There exists numerous needs which have thus far not been filled for printing or other imaging or coatings, application which can provide a precise edge limit to a material and to one or more coatings thereon.
It is particularly beneficial when a coating has an end point or a transitional point between two separate coatings. For example, when it is intended to have transparent areas beside partially or fully opaque areas; or when two separate colored or structured coatings are in direct edge contact or with a defined gap between them; or when it is desired not have any overlap between two solid adjoining coatings such that the overlapped portion would present a different appearance of color due to the overlapping coatings, or when it is desired to have large numbers of defined edges when forming a pattern such as patterns where light may be transmitted through the surface of a material, accurate coating or painting is necessary.
There are many situations, including lithography, offset and smaller sizes of screen printing where good quality of registration is possible. However, any misregistration may not be visible in the general area of the print, but becomes very noticeable along the edge of the print area because the misregistration of one or more colors show up against the non-printed background.
The term “coating application” or “print” or “printed” or “printing” or “transfer” or “vapor deposition” or “stamping” or “printing surface” or “high surface” or “sublimitation” or “micro saturation”, or similar, as used herein, includes, but is not limited to, any method of applying or positioning a coating onto or in close proximity to a base or other surface and include traditional methods such as screen print, lithography, offset, ink jet, digital printing, sublimitation, paint jet, electrostatic attraction of repulsion, magnetic attraction of repulsion, or any other method of causing a visible or invisible coating to be applied on or in close proximity to a base or other material or substrate or another coating or substance and includes new technology print application methods when developed. Application methods also include: toner particles, liquid and particulates, paint jet, powder transfer, vapor deposited metals, hand applications, such as brush, air brush, roller, spray and the like, electrostatic attraction, electrostatic repulsion from one surface to another, conductive deposition, magnetic attraction, magnetic repulsion, charged particles, gravity, liquid flow, blade coating, reverse roll coating, reflective materials or treatments, retro-reflective treatment, including prisms, photochromic, coatings applied and partially removed through a variety of treatments such as laser etching, acid embossing, air abrasion, mechanical abrasion, and other means to affect a previously applied coatings; coatings placed on intermediary materials, combination with coatings placed on primary or secondary materials and any combinations of placing those bases or substrates together to combine coatings. For example, reactive coatings, or other sources which are reactive to light, radiation, frequencies of sound or combinations with any other substances type may be used, including inter-reactive coatings whereby two coatings react when placed in proximity one with the other, or combinations of two or more, such as a chemical reaction. Coatings may also react in the future to stimuli or external input such as light sensitive substances, such as polymers, including; coatings which react to electrical fields or electrical current; flowable solids; coatings which become viscous at one environment, for example, temperature, but remain solid in a different environment; metals including precious metals; halographic images, silver halide plates, photographic plates, or photographic materials; coatings which are called release coatings where the molecular structures weakens upon exposure to outside stimuli or forces such as light sensitive coatings, or heat sensitive coatings, and combinations of any and all of the above. A certain coating may be made up of two or more coatings which have been partially or fully blended together or mixed together such as to cause differential effects under some later process, inter-reaction of the mixed components or any other reason, particularly when not mixed thoroughly, so portions of the certain coating are discrete.
By way of introduction, security documents, or objects or documents subject to counterfeit, such as software discs, CD's, music tapes, share certificates and the like can use perimeter coating alignment to provide either visible or invisible coating treatments in precise repeatable patterns to provide identification which may not be readily visible. For example, precisely pattern coatings contained below the surface may be readable by electronic scanners, metal detectors, magnetrometers, and many other teachings of the present invention such that the concealed pattern becomes visible when tested, but which is not otherwise apparent. As a further example, by using perimeter coating alignment it is possible to encapture coatings or gases which react when exposed to oxygen, or air. Anybody opening a document or other structure as an attempt to forge or counterfeit it may see a different color after the air enters the structure. For example a coating may change color or texture upon exposure to oxygen, thereby thwarting any attempt to identify and reproduce it. Separately, if the counterfeiters saw, for example, red on a surface they would assume it was red and therefore reproduce a counterfeit document with the color red. In reality, the coating was not red, but turned red upon exposure to the air.
Another example includes documents or products where a coating is sensitive to light and when protected from exposure to light, such as when stored in a dark place, the coatings on the surface of sub-surface will not be affected, but if exposed to light such as by the opening or removal of covering coatings, will react to light and change their chemical constructions, colors, or other reactions caused on certain coatings by natural or artificial light sources including UV sources or the sun.
It is now possible to print sections of credit cards with see through portions which can encapsulate a perimeter printed indicia whether it be reflective, holographic or an opaque coating such that multiple layers of coatings in exact register provide an identification security which is hard to reproduce outside of the present invention. It is also possible to encapsulate metallic coatings or other reflective or reactive substances within the credit card to provide a defined area which is not visible to the normal consumer but which can be scanned using other means such as x-ray, magnetic sensors, or the like, to determine the shape of, for example Bank or Credit Card Company logos. This would typically be a metallic layer placed within the structure of the card. It is possible to have different metallic structures with the same edge alignment using the present invention.
In retail stores it is common, particularly in clothing departments to provide mirrors for consumers and shoppers to see themselves wearing new clothing, shoes, and the like. These mirrors provide an ideal opportunity for promotional or logo messages promoting certain brands of merchandise or the store identity. By being able to print four color process in large areas with defined perimeters it means that, for example, a central area of a mirror can be left fully reflective, and yet the perimeter can be presented with a multi-colored image with the edge of the image being in exact registration despite the larger sizes of these mirrors which are typically a minimum of one meter by two meters.
Known printing methods, such as lithography, offset, screen printing, toner transfer and others, are capable of reproducing good registration results. However, these techniques are limited in accordance with the type of materials or coatings which can be applied. Typically, lithography uses transparent inks which are not resistant to sunlight and therefore, typically used for publications such as books and magazines and other documents. Offset, combined with UV type inks, are capable of producing durable colored images, which will not fade as quickly in sunlight. However, both these processes are unable to maintain an exact registration of edge alignments in repetition because of small variations in the printing process. Examples of this include slippage of the printed material and of the equipment itself, which cause minor movements of the print registration. Additionally, changes in temperature, expansion and contraction of metal machinery and the like, all can contribute to variations in registration, whether small or large.
There are numerous other uses for perimeter coating alignment. For example, it is not currently possible to accurately print multi-color grid patterns on the sunroofs of automobiles. Typically, the sunroof has a grid pattern to permit visibility through the sunroof and yet to restrict the heat radiated from the sun onto the occupants of the vehicle. To provide effective outward visibility, the coating, usually ceramic ink and black in color and is printed either as discrete dots or as a coating pattern with holes in the black coating. The commonly used printing method is screen printing. With the present invention, it is now possible to retain the current pattern of black on the passengers side of the sunroof, and yet from the outside have numerous possibilities which are advantageous. By being able to add a color or multi-colors, manufacturers can now color coordinate the exterior side of the sunroof grid pattern to the color of the vehicle, could incorporate the car manufacturers logo, and can also provide decorate treatments. The colors on the outside are not readily visible to the passengers on the inside, who still retain their visibility through the sunroof. By incorporating a heat transmissive coating, such as a metal, which may be deposited or hot foil stamped or other means, in alignment with ink coatings, as taught herein, and then supplying electric current to produce heat, the sunroof will be heated to evaporate condensation, or melt off ice and snow. A metallic reflective coating can also be overlaid accurately on the grid pattern to reflect heat from the sun.
In screen printing and other printing processes, it is known in the art to provide a blackout tape or stencil or emulsion to produce a defined area of the screen. However, this does not produce a defined edge on the material, because of a variety of factors including slippage of the printing material, stretching of the screen, expansion of the equipment, mechanical variations and other reasons so that the image produced does not have a defined edge in a repeatable manner from this method.
The present invention provides significant advantages in the areas of light control where quantities of light can be adjusted by the installation of the material onto a see through surface such as a window. As a heat control method, the present invention can offer gradiated open area possibilities where it can be installed on a window to reduce the amount of sunlight entering a building. This can also be enhanced by the addition of reflective material on the outside of the present invention to further reflect sunlight, reduce heat absorption in the material, and via conduction thereby reduce heat in the glass, and heat into the interior of the building. Another use is as a decorative material in combination with a variety of surface coatings. Security applications can also benefit whereby the material acts as a vision barrier in one direction while providing acceptable visibility from the other side, such as in surveillance applications at airports and the like or at security gates at factories and other similar applications.
The surface of a material may also be treated by processes whereby interesting surface effects may be created for the simulation of other material or as light or radiation reflective means when combined with various available surface coatings.
Protection of a material in sunlight conditions can be obtained by the addition of UV resistant formulations in the base material or by the addition of coatings on the exposed surfaces of the material or by the use of a laminate film or similar material to provide protection for both the material and any indicia or visible coatings placed on or in close proximity to the surface thereof.
As a method of producing exact registration, Hill, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,705, discloses a wash off method of obtaining a precisely aligned print. This is, in fact, the photo stencil process used in numerous industries since the early 1980's and for whom Kodak Corp. and E. I. DuPont provide materials for processing and Kodak is believed to have provided the chemicals and instruction steps for this process through the 1970's. However, the problem is that the process is limited as to the type of coatings which can be applied and subsequently removed. The present invention solves this limitation and can be used to apply any thickness of coatings, and any compositions of coatings. The photo stencil process cannot remove the thick coatings or thick metalized coatings which have structural integrity because the coatings become stronger than the layer below and will not break away during the removal process. The present invention solves those problems. Further, during the washoff removal process, damage occurs to the ink perimeters and to the top surface of the last ink due to the action of pressure from water and, depending on the chemicals used, solvents and other undesirable liquids. There also exists the problem of waste disposal of the removal fluids, and the material which has been removed. The present invention does not have these problems.
There are numerous uses for the present invention, including being able to control the location of and limit the perimeter of one or more types or combinations of coatings on one or more bases or coatings on or in other surfaces or materials and these will becomes readily apparent in the teachings of the present invention.